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Greece & Rome
Annemarie's Classical Greece & Rome Mid-Term Review
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Geography of Greece | mountains, archielago, led to development of city states |
| City State | a form of political organization typical of Greece; consisted of agricultural lands ruled by an urban-based king; had it's own government |
| Sparta & Athens | two leading city states |
| Sparta | strong military aristocracy dominating a slave population |
| Athens | more diverse commercial state, also included slaves, proud of its artistic and intellectual leadership |
| Pericles | Athenian political leader during 5th century; guided development of Atheniann empire; died during Peloponnesian War; ruled through wise influence and negotiation |
| Democracy | each citizen could participate in city-state assemblies to select officials and pass laws |
| Peloponnesian Wars | (43-404 BC) wars between Athens and Sparta for control in southern Greece; resulted in Spartan victory but failure to achieve political unification of Greece |
| Philip II of Macedon | Ruled Macedon from 359 to 336 BC; founder of centralized kingdom; later conquered rest of Greece, which was subjected to Macedonian authority |
| Alexander the Great | son of Philip II; successfully conquered Persian Empire prior to his death in 323 BC; attempted to combine Greek and Persian cultures; died at age of 33, empire lasted only 13 years |
| Hellenistic Period | the culture associated with the spread of Greek influence as a result of Macedonian conquests; often seen as the combination of Greek culture with eastern political forms; trade flourished and many scientific advances made |
| Socrates | Athenian philosopher; tutor of Plato; urged rational reflection of moral decisions; condemned to death for corrupting minds of Athenian young; role of questioning |
| Plato | Greek philosopher; knowledge based on consideration of ideal forms outside the material world; proposed ideal form of government based on abstract principles in which philosophers ruled |
| Greek culture | known for literature, poetry |
| Roman Republic | balanced constitution of Rome from 510 to 47 BC; featured aristocratic Senate, a panel of magistrates, and several popular assemblies |
| Punic Wars | fought between Rome and Carthage to establish dominance in the western Mediterranean; won by Rome after three separate conflicts |
| Hannibal | great Carthaginian general during Second Punic War; successfully invaded Italy but failed to conquer Rome; finally defeated at Battle of Zama |
| Carthage | originally a Phoenician colony in northern Africa; became a major port and commercial power in the estern mediterranean; fought the Punic Wars with Rome for dominance of the western Mediterranean |
| Julius Caesar | Roman general responsible for conquest of Gaul; brought army back to Rome and overthrew republis; assassinated in 44 BCE by conservative senators |
| Augustus Caesar | grandnephew of Julius Caesar, established basic structures of Roman Empire |
| Constantine | Roman emperor from 312 to 337; established second capital at Constantinople; attempted to use religious force of Christianity to unify empire spiritually |
| Diocletian | Roman emperor from 285 to 305; restored later empire by improved administration and tax collection |
| Polis | greek word for city state, basis of our word "politics" |
| Direct Democracy | literally rule of the people; as interpreted in Athens, all decisions emanated from popular assembly without intermediation of elected representatives |
| Senate | assembly of Roman artistocrats; advised on policy within the republic; one of the early elements of the Roman constitution |
| Sophocles | greek writer of tragedies; author of Oedipus Rex |
| Cicero | conservative Roman senator; stoic philosopher; one of the great orators of his day; killed in reaction to assassination of Julius Caesar; some of his writings resembled Confucianism, although more ephasis on participation in government |
| Twelve Tables | first code of law of early Roman republic; laws were intended to restrain the upper classes from arbitrary action & to subject them, as well as ordinary people, to common legal principles |
| Roman Law | rules rather than personal whim should govern social relationships; promoted importance of common-sense fairness |
| Greek & Roman Religion | Greeks and Romans did not create a significant world-class religion, as India and to some extent China did; derived from a belief in the spirits of nature elevated into a complex set of gods and goddesses who were seen as regulating human life. |
| Christianity | not really a product of Greek or Roman culture, became one of the major world religions, did arise during the Roman Empire |
| Aristotle | Greek philosopher; teacher of Alexander the Great; knowledge based on observation of phenomenoa in material world |
| Stoics | Hellenistic group of philosophers; emphasized inner moral independence cultivated by strict discipline of the body and personal bravery |
| Greek Literature | strong epic tradition, for example Homer's Iliad and Odyssey |
| Greek Architecture | emphasized monumental construction, square or rectangular in shape, with columned porticoes |
| Doric, Ionic & Corinthian | three embellishments for tops of columns devised by Greeks, each more ornate than the next |